ALAMOSA, Colo. - Roy Dale "Rocky" Ford, 63, passed away on Dec. 29, 2012 in Alamosa, Colo. A longtime Alamosa, Colo. and Great Bend resident, Rocky was born on Feb. 27, 1949, in Great Bend to Ora and Opal Mae (Griffin) Ford. He was a cattle and buffalo rancher and worked horses for many years. He was a carpenter and plumber, working in construction with his brother, Bud.

Last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics continued its monthly deceit and deception exercise. The December unemployment rate, according to the BLS, is 7.8 percent. In the same report, BLS announced that 155,000 new jobs have been created.

The Barton County Commission will honor out-going elected officials and welcome new ones when it meets at 9 a.m. Monday at the Barton County Courthouse, 1400 Main in Great Bend. There will also be a swearing in of new office holders. Other agenda items include reorganization.

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The Great Bend Seventh-day Adventist Elementary School is placing the spring order for frozen fruit from the Bithell Farms in Oregon. Place orders by Feb. 25 and the fruit will arrive in late March or early April. Available are Marion blackberries, red raspberries, boysenberries, blueberries, strawberries which are sliced and sugared, strawberries whole without sugar, loganberries, red pie cherries, dark sweet cherries, peaches, apricots, apples and red rhubarb. Also available are freezer jam and purees.

The Hoisington Wrestling team came as close as a team can come in not winning a team championship at the Central Kansas League tournament hosted by Hoisington this past Saturday. The team lost by just a mere 1/2 point to Smoky Valley High School. Making it even tougher on the Cardinals was that they had the fire power to have won the tournament, if they had been able to be at full strength. Gone from the lineup was one of their main cogs in senior Chance Boor at 195 lbs. Chance a state placer last year has been a ...

Former Great Bend High School wrestler Zachary Schridde qualified for the National Junior College Athletic Association Wrestling Nationals in the 133-pound weight class. Schridde placed fourth for the Pratt Beavers on Feb. 14, at the West Central District Regionals hosted by Colby Community College. Eight colleges participated including colleges from Oklahoma and Arkansas. Pratt Community College Beavers qualified a total of seven of their nine wrestlers for the National Tournament on Feb. 27-28, held in Des Moines, Iowa. The Pratt Beavers are coached by Ken Kepley.

After rolling to a 4-0 start at home to start the 2015 season, the Barton Community College softball team hit the road for the first time Saturday. And it wasn't a short trip either. The Cougars traveled to far southeast corner of the state to battle Allen County in Iola.